Begränsningar i arbetsgivarens arbetsledningsrätt

The employer’s right to rule is always a burning topic and many employers are currently not as familiar with the subject as they perhaps should be. High demands are placed on the employer in an employment relationship with employees, who also apply to employees. At the same time, the employer has been given, through the employer’s right to rule, the right to freely manage and allocate work in the workplace. The employer’s right to rule has always been a central part of the labour regulation. However, the legal arguments that used to explain the employer’s right to rule have gradually changed over the years. Since the inception of the status stressed and strict regulation between master and servant in the late nineteenth century to the inception of labour´s collective period in the early twentieth century a major change has occurred. Since the December Compromise in 1906 the employer´s right to rule is considered a general legal principle which later became limited several times by law. The limitations have recently been so many in number that there is a risk that they will soon be on its way to hollow out the employer’s § 32-authorities which is a clear violation of the traditional scheme of Swedish labour law. In that respect, the value of the employer prerogative is exceptionally strong and the employer’s right to rule is central. In this essay, I will draw attention to most of these limitations and demonstrate how they have influenced the employer’s right to rule. Despite all these limitations, one should not forget that in the end it is the employer who makes the final decisions. His responsibility is to make sure that the decisions that he make are not violating the limitations of his right to rule